PR agency Thinkhouse has released the results of a into youth attitudes which indicates that six out of ten young people believe that “Ireland is a society run by the old, for the old”.

Emerging in an Emergency is the fifth investigation into youth culture carried out by the firm’s Youth Lab, this year asking the question ‘What is it like to be young?’

The results from sample split 50/50 between 16 to 24 year olds and those from 25 to 25 seems to indicate ‘not so good’ as the answer.

However, the overall conclusion is that young people emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic will not accept a straight ‘return to normality’, if that means continuing a world that is stacked against them.

The headline takeaways support this view:

In Association with

• 49% do not trust the state to govern in their best interests
• 72% believe younger generations are left to pick up the pieces of older generations’ mistakes
• 41% believe that, based on Irish society’s Covid-19 responses, younger generations (16-35 year olds) matter less compared to older cohorts.

Thinkhouse says the survey methodology centred on quantitative research with 500 young people nationally representative of geographic population spread and social class, and completed end of June 2021 in conjunction with Bounce Insights.

Strategy director Laura Costello commented: “It really does feel like a huge, historic, moment, one where we are being called to carefully listen to others in new ways in order to find the right questions and feed our collective resilience into the future.

“The post-pandemic world for young people is a groundswell of discontent, combined with a collapse of trust. Youth are up against a bleak today and an uncertain tomorrow. They are feeling both ignored and unsupported, further widening the intergenerational chasm of ‘old’ versus ‘young’. 

“But it’s not game over. Their pent-up energy is manifesting in their voicing out in an unapologetically outspoken way. Expect young people to push all of us out of our comfort zones," Costello added.

Youth Lab head Claire Hyland stated: “Young people’s voicing out is a rallying call of togetherness against the inequalities they face. It is also a cry for help to older generations to shift old systems, realise new orders and re-balance the social contract in a way that gives young people a fair chance of security, opportunity and happiness.

“The brands and businesses that take leadership roles in voicing out for young people are those that are likely to resonate with young people. Choose not to act and it could be a deal-breaker.”

The full report has plenty of advice for businesses and brands that want to align themselves with the post-Covid youth wave, and you can find more about it here.

• Thinkhouse is holding a free Zoom event on Thursday August 19 from 8.30am to 9.30am to discuss the report’s findings. To reserve a place email lauram@thinkhousehq.com.